Donald Trump Will Intervene In Huawei Executive Case If It Leads To Trade Deal With China

Meng Wanzhou was arrested earlier this month during a layover at Vancouver International Airport

Office of the President of Russia [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would intervene with the U.S. Justice Department in the case against Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou if it would help make a trade deal with Beijing. Meng was arrested earlier this month during a layover at Vancouver International Airport on charges of attempting to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“If I think it’s good for the country, if I think it’s good for what will be certainly the largest trade deal ever made — which is a very important thing — what’s good for national security — I would certainly intervene if I thought it was necessary,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with Reuters in the Oval Office.

Meng was arrested the same day Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping declared a 90-day ceasefire in their trade war during the G20 summit talks in Buenos Aires.

When asked if he had a talk about Meng’s arrest with Xi Trump said he had not yet spoken to Xi about the case.

Meanwhile, a Canadian court granted bail to Wanzhou on Tuesday while she awaits a hearing on extradition to the United States. However, she will be kept under tight monitoring over bank fraud allegations.

The Huawei executive’s release on bail has been subject to a guarantee of C$10m ($7.5m) and outlined by 15 conditions. She will have to face constant surveillance at her $5.6 million home that she has selected as her residence and wear a GPS tracking device. The full cost of surveillance and GPS monitoring will be borne by Meng.

She is also subject to a curfew between 11 pm and 6 am and surrenders both of her passports. Notably, five of her friends have pledged equity in their homes and other money as a guarantee she will not flee.